I attended that rally and it was a very positive experience. I would engage stopped motorists and give them an “I Share the Road” sticker (only if they were open to the idea).

[A motorist shows her support.]

When done with respect and in a non-confrontational way, holding signs, making some noise, smiling, and encouraging folks to slow down and be safe can be an effective way to gain awareness for safer streets.

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2 Comments

JacqueFebruary 12, 2007 at 4:01 pm

Thanks for posting this Jonathan.

The location for next month’s rally (March 15th) will be at SE 40th and Belmont.

Still no photos / recap? Okay, here’s my report of what happened at the rally:

Hey, I wasn’t at the rally spot for the entire time owing to the fact that I was at times down the street making more signs for the better-than-expected turnout, but here is what I know about it. There were more than a dozen people and quite an ambitious quantity / quality of sign materials. Some were vinyl signs and attached to the nearby tree with the Ghost Bike sign on it, some were attached to bikes / trailers, some were hand-held. The Portland Mercury had a reporter there, and the film crew for for the Portland bike documentary (portlandbikemovie.com) was representing, I believe it was Greg Fredette & Jason Turner. As far as I know there was not anyone taking pictures although the Portland bike movie crew took a lot of film footage.

I did not see any motorists blasting through that spot on SE Stark at a really excessive speed, but I estimate that about 1/4 of drivers were going well over the speed limit until they came near our group at which point they slowed down. The average speed among that 1/4 was probably about 40-45 (in a 30MPH area). There was definitely a lot of support from drivers, and I’m not aware of any angry motorists being encountered.

Of those I talked to, we seem to be in agreement about a few things:
– The safety actions will be a monthly feature, at a different location each time (March and April already selected).
– The actions would be a handy opportunity for safety-ists to get together and discuss future plans, casual-meeting style.
– SE Stark is a pretty dangerous spot for peds / cyclists, due mostly to the high speeds of automobiles. There was talk of adding speed bumps to this area, and also along SE Ankeny where there are none in the SE 20th – 39th area.
– Future actions should feature snacks and season-appropriate beverages (cold in hot weather, hot in cold weather).